''Bothy Culture'' is the second studio album by the
Scottish Celtic fusion artist
Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett (17 February 1971 – 30 January 2005) was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and prod ...
, released in January 1998 on the
Rykodisc
Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.
History
Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...
label. After winning critical acclaim for his debut album ''
Martyn Bennett
Martyn Bennett (17 February 1971 – 30 January 2005) was a Canadian-Scottish musician who was influential in the evolution of modern Celtic fusion, a blending of traditional Celtic and modern music. He was a piper, violinist, composer and prod ...
'' (1996), ''Bothy Culture'' builds upon that album's mixing of Scottish
Celtic music with farther, international
folk music
Folk music is a music genre that includes traditional folk music and the contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be called world music. Traditional folk music has b ...
styles and contemporary
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
. The album celebrates and draws upon the music of Bennett's native
Gaeldom as well as the
music of Islam and
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
, with Bennett finding and emotionally connecting to the similarities between the geographically dispersed styles. It mixes the styles with contemporary electronic music such as
breakbeat and
drum and bass.
Named for the traditional party culture of Highland
bothies, which Bennett related to modern
club music subcultures, ''Bothy Culture'' was released to critical acclaim, with critics praising the effectiveness of the album's unique blend of disparate styles. Bennett formed the band Cuillin, consisting of himself, his wife and two other musicians, to tour in promotion of the album. Several critics have gone on to regard ''Bothy Culture'' as a groundbreaking and pioneering album that established Bennett as a prominent musician within the evolution of Scottish music, and Bennett went on to win the
Glenfiddich Spirit of Scotland Award for Music. In 2018, 13 years after Bennett's death, his friend, composer Greg Lawson, hosted the much publicised show ''Bothy Culture and Beyond'' at the
SSE Hydro,
Glasgow
Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated popul ...
, with his GRIT Orchestra, to celebrate the album's 20th anniversary.
Background
Martyn Bennett, already a
Celtic musician, having grown up within Scottish
Gaelic culture
The Gaels ( ; ga, Na Gaeil ; gd, Na Gàidheil ; gv, Ny Gaeil ) are an ethnolinguistic group native to Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man in the British Isles. They are associated with the Gaelic languages: a branch of the Celtic languag ...
and learning to play the fiddle and piano, became influenced by the
electronic dance music scene of the early 1990s and began regularly attending clubs,
soon working
Martin Swan
Martin Swan (born Sheffield, England) is a Scottish multi-instrumentalist, songwriter, composer, record producer, recording engineer and instrument designer.
Swan is best known as the leader of the Mouth Music project, whose combination of tra ...
's
Mouth Music project,
combining traditional Gaelic songs and music with contemporary instruments.
He made his debut at the
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall
Glasgow Royal Concert Hall is a concert and arts venue located in Glasgow, Scotland. It is owned by Glasgow City Council and operated by Glasgow Life, an agency of Glasgow City Council, which also runs Glasgow's City Halls and Old Fruitmarket v ...
on 14 January 1994 supporting them. His debut album ''
Martyn Bennet'' (1995), released on the Edinburgh-based
indie label
An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, or SME. The labels and artists are often represented ...
Eclectic,
was recorded in just seven days.
The album had a large impact on Scottish music,
and Bennett become one of a leading group of Scottish artists, others including
Peatbog Faeries
The Peatbog Faeries are a largely instrumental Celtic fusion band. Formed in 1991, they are based in Dunvegan on the Isle of Skye, Scotland.
Their music embodies many styles and influences, including folk, electronica, African pop, rock and ...
, Tartan Amoebas and
Shooglenifty
Shooglenifty are a Scottish, Edinburgh-based six-piece Celtic fusion band that tours internationally. The band blends Scottish traditional music with influences ranging from electronica to alternative rock. They contributed to Afro Celt Sound S ...
, who pioneered an "electro-ethnic-
worldbeat
Worldbeat is a music genre that blends pop music or rock music with world music or traditional music. Worldbeat is similar to other cross-pollination labels of contemporary and roots genres, and which suggest a rhythmic, harmonic or textural c ...
" genre in which Scottish Celtic music was mixed with other folk influences from
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...
and further afield like
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
,
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the sout ...
,
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
and
Africa
Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, and with contemporary music, especially
electronic music
Electronic music is a genre of music that employs electronic musical instruments, digital instruments, or circuitry-based music technology in its creation. It includes both music made using electronic and electromechanical means ( electroa ...
.
The ''
Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'' lauded Bennett's "capitvating form of
multi-culturalism," while the ''
Toronto Sun
The ''Toronto Sun'' is an English-language tabloid format, tabloid newspaper published daily in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The newspaper is one of several ''Sun'' tabloids published by Postmedia Network. The newspaper's offices is located at Pos ...
'' noted the mixing of Gaelic
jig
The jig ( ga, port, gd, port-cruinn) is a form of lively folk dance in compound metre, as well as the accompanying dance tune. It is most associated with Irish music and dance. It first gained popularity in 16th-century Ireland and parts of ...
s, Turkish
bagpipes and Penjabi melodies with synthesizers and drum machines in his music.
After its release, he provided the live musical score for
David Harrower
David Harrower (born 1966) is a Scottish playwright who (as of 2005) lives in Glasgow. Harrorwer has published over 10 original works, as well as numerous translations and adaptations.
Career
Harrower's first play, ''Knives in Hens'', which p ...
’s play ''Knives in Hens'',
and after writing scores for stage and television, he went on tour to America, supporting
Wolfstone
Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Celtic rock. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. They have released seven studio albums, the latest, '' Terra Firma'', in 2007. The band ...
,
soon also playing at
Edinburgh Hogmanay events in 1995 and 1996,
performing to more than 90,000 people.
It was with these events that his second album ''Bothy Culture'' started to piece together. More-so than his debut album, ''Bothy Culture'' developed as a result of his experiences of the early 1990s Glaswegian
rave and
house scenes and his experimentation with numerous types of
world music.
It was recorded solely by Bennett within his home studio.
Compared to his debut album, Bennett described ''Bothy Culture'' as "less of a kind of virtuosic performance. It's a simpler kind of collage in a way. I think it's more complex and mature as well. The first album is full of testosterone."
Composition
Inspiration and themes
![Lairig Leacach Bothy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1e/Lairig_Leacach_Bothy.jpg)
Bennett explained ''Bothy Culture'' celebrates not only his own country's Gaelic culture and music, but also the
music of Islam, for which he held a long-lasting fascination due to its vocals, modes and instrumentation being "similar in emotion" to Gaelic music styles, and the
music of Scandinavia
Nordic folk music includes a number of traditions of Nordic countries, especially Scandinavian. The Nordic countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
The many regions of the Nordic countries share certain traditions, many of whic ...
, which he found to have the same heavy-beat rowdiness and "solitary sweetness" of the
ceilidh music he played in his upbringing.
He felt he understood Islamic and Scandinavian music as soon as he heard them due to them expressing themselves without words: "I recognised them to be some past life I had lived through perhaps, or they seemed to well up under my fingers without my awareness."
The album is named for
bothies, the
Highland
Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally speaking, upland (or uplands) refers to ranges of hills, typically from up to while highland (or highlands) is ...
huts where travellers and shepherds would traditionally meet, rest, swap tunes and party.
Bennett had stayed in bothies when trekking the Highlands, and had over time taken note of the bothy songs and tunes written by shepherds and
drovers over generations, and noted similar traditions in other worldwide mountainous cultures, especially those with bothy-style traditions, like
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
,
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders ...
,
China,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria (; bg, България, Bǎlgariya), officially the Republic of Bulgaria,, ) is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern flank of the Balkans, and is bordered by Romania to the north, Serbia and North Macedo ...
and
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with a small portion on the Balkan Peninsula in ...
. He found comparisons between the atmospheres of bothies and urban nightclubs, where he had "spooky" experiences arriving for soundchecks when the clubs were cold and empty, but noted: "Although the music and songs that have been played in them are totally contrasting, it is this same sense of excitement that can transform four bare walls into a chamber of sheer sensual delight."
Mairi McFayden of ''
Bella Caledonia
''Bella Caledonia'' is an online magazine publishing social, political and cultural commentary. It was launched in 2007 and came to particular prominence during the campaign period of the Scottish independence referendum that was held in 2014. T ...
'' noted the significance of the bothy as a totemic symbol within the album. She said, despite a bothy seeming "unremarkable in itself," it nonetheless holds significant importance within Highland culture in that it they were the source of many memorable and important experiences for peoples' lives – "of gathering and companionship, of togetherness, of conviviality, of sharing stories, music and song. Of communitas." She felt this was "at the heart" of ''Bothy Culture'': "whether the rhythmic entrainment of the rave or nightclub or the cultural intimacy and conviviality of the bothy, both are a vital a source of this dynamic life force – a feeling of connection to something outside and beyond our own individual, corporeal existence."
Music
First and foremost an album of
dance music
Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded da ...
,
''Bothy Culture'' primarily celebrates and draws from the music of Bennett's native
Gaeldom as well as
Scandinavian music
Nordic folk music includes a number of traditions of Nordic countries, especially Scandinavian. The Nordic countries are Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland.
The many regions of the Nordic countries share certain traditions, many of w ...
and
Islamic music
Islamic music may refer to religious music, as performed in Islamic public services or private devotions, or more generally to musical traditions of the Muslim world. The heartland of Islam is the Middle East, North Africa, the Horn of Africa, W ...
.
Dave Sleger of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
felt the album mixes music from
Punjabi, Scandinavian,
Turkish and
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
cultures with modern
club music styles like
rave,
techno
Techno is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music (EDM) which is generally music production, produced for use in a continuous DJ set, with tempo often varying between 120 and 150 beats per minute (bpm). The central Drum beat, rhythm is typ ...
and
hip-hop, creating what he calls a "assiduous hybrid."
Though Bennett's previous work used electronic dance beats, ''Bothy Culture'' developed upon the prominence of these beats considerably, with styles of
drum and bass and trippy
breakbeats.
''
Billboard'' believed the album uses Bennett's native folk styles as the touchstone for what is essentially an "ultramodern"
world music album,
while ''
CMJ New Music Monthly
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
'' emphasised the album's mixing of Gaelic traditions with "skittering"
electronic
Electronic may refer to:
*Electronics, the science of how to control electric energy in semiconductor
* ''Electronics'' (magazine), a defunct American trade journal
*Electronic storage, the storage of data using an electronic device
*Electronic co ...
beats."
''
The Times
''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' felt the album was dominated by its
Scottish and Islamic music elements.
![Doudouk armenien](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e3/Doudouk_armenien.jpg)
Bennett plays all the instruments on the album, with instruments as eclectic as the
flute and
violin
The violin, sometimes known as a '' fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone ( string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument ( soprano) in the family in regu ...
, the Turkish
oud
, image=File:oud2.jpg
, image_capt=Syrian oud made by Abdo Nahat in 1921
, background=
, classification=
* String instruments
*Necked bowl lutes
, hornbostel_sachs=321.321-6
, hornbostel_sachs_desc=Composite chordophone sounded with a plectrum
, ...
and
dudek and numerous electronic and programming devices.
As with ''
Glen Lyon
Glen Lyon ( gd, Gleann Lìomhann) is a glen in the Perth and Kinross region of Scotland. It is the longest enclosed glen in Scotland and runs for from Loch Lyon in the west to the village of Fortingall in the east.
This glen was also kno ...
'' (2002), ''Bothy Culture'' is one of Bennett's more studio-based albums.
Permeating throughout is a "flat" synth sound that is often minimised by the bagpipes, violin, unusual vocal snippets,
samples and "other electronic curiosities."
The large amount of percussive breakbeats, as is common with contemporary dance music, augment Bannett's pipe and fiddle playing throughout,
though the electronic beats are mostly unobtrusive, allowing the fiddles and pipes more room to permeate.
Other electronic sounds on the album include
ambient textures like in that of contemporary
electronica, including
modem
A modulator-demodulator or modem is a computer hardware device that converts data from a digital format into a format suitable for an analog transmission medium such as telephone or radio. A modem transmits data by Modulation#Digital modulati ...
-style squeals and
micro-processed winds.
Described by Bennett as "a party tune with a pile of twaddle over the top,"
the opening "Tongues of Kali" is an upbeat number flavoured by Punjabi music,
and contains
funky grooves, bagpipes,
sitar
The sitar ( or ; ) is a plucked stringed instrument, originating from the Indian subcontinent, used in Hindustani classical music. The instrument was invented in medieval India, flourished in the 18th century, and arrived at its present form ...
and "DJ tinged mayhem."
It starts with thick vocal gargling, keyboard work and percussion which journalist Scott Frampton compared to the sound of "someone whacking a caber tosser's thigh," before the appearance of a
house hi-hat rhythm and later a "sort of Gaelic
scat."
Author Gary West compared the song's Eastern
mouth music with the Gaelic styles of ''
puirt à beul Puirt à beul (, literally "tunes from a mouth") is a traditional form of song native to Scotland (known as ''portaireacht'' in Ireland) that sets Gaelic lyrics to instrumental tune melodies. Historically, they were used to accompany dancing in the ...
'' and ''
canntaireachd Canntaireachd (; ) is the ancient method of teaching, learning and memorizing ''Piobaireachd'' (also spelt '' Pibroch''), a type of music primarily played on the Great Highland bagpipe. In the canntairached method of instruction, the teacher sings o ...
''.
The second track, "Aye?," features the word 'aye' muttered in numerous inflections; Kate Molleson of ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' called it "a stroke of deadpan brilliance, spoken word stripped back to a single redolent syllable. Bennett never overdid things."
"Sputnik in Glenshiel" is reminiscent of
Stéphane Grappelli
Stéphane Grappelli (; 26 January 1908 – 1 December 1997, born Stefano Grappelli) was a French jazz violinist. He is best known as a founder of the Quintette du Hot Club de France with guitarist Django Reinhardt in 1934. It was one of the fi ...
,
and combines Celtic and
Middle Eastern violin "rhapsodies."
The fourth track, "Hallaig," features a sample of Gaelic poet
Sorley MacLean reading his
poem of the same name shortly before his death in 1996.
The originally
Gaelic language
The Goidelic or Gaelic languages ( ga, teangacha Gaelacha; gd, cànanan Goidhealach; gv, çhengaghyn Gaelgagh) form one of the two groups of Insular Celtic languages, the other being the Brittonic languages.
Goidelic languages historically ...
poem is named for the deserted township on
Raasay
Raasay (; gd, Ratharsair) or the Isle of Raasay is an island between the Isle of Skye and the mainland of Scotland. It is separated from Skye by the Sound of Raasay and from Applecross by the Inner Sound. It is famous for being the birt ...
, MacLean's birthplace, and reflects on the nature of time and the
Highland Clearances' historical impact, leaving a desolated landscape. Mairi McFayden of ''
Bella Caledonia
''Bella Caledonia'' is an online magazine publishing social, political and cultural commentary. It was launched in 2007 and came to particular prominence during the campaign period of the Scottish independence referendum that was held in 2014. T ...
'' felt it was "poetic that many of those lost lifelines from the diaspora have found their way back through music," and called the track "quietly political in its beauty" and the album's "centrepiece."
The hypnotic "Ud the Doudouk" mixes melodies and Bennett's playing of the
doudouk, a Middle Eastern woodwind instrument, with "techno club and Scottish folk beats".
"4 Notes" is an ethnic-style techno track,
while "Waltz for Hector" combines Bennett's traditional and modern playing styles, fusing Celtic and
Mediterranean music
The history of the Mediterranean region and of the cultures and people of the Mediterranean Basin is important for understanding the origin and development of the Mesopotamian, Egyptian, Canaanite, Phoenician, Hebrew, Carthaginian, Minoan, Gree ...
elements atop a drum and bass rhythm, and finishes with Bennett playing the
pibroch
Pibroch, or is an art music genre associated primarily with the Scottish Highlands that is characterised by extended compositions with a melodic theme and elaborate formal variations. Strictly meaning "piping" in Scottish Gaelic, has for some f ...
"Lament for Red Hector" on a lone bagpipe.
Release and reception
''Bothy Culture'' was released on 13 January 1998 by
Rykodisc
Rykodisc is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, operating as a unit of WMG's Independent Label Group and is distributed through Alternative Distribution Alliance.
History
Claiming to be the first CD-only independent record la ...
.
A relative commercial success, the album topped the
US college radio charts.
On the
CMJ New World chart, based on combined reports of reggae and world music airplay on American radio stations, ''Bothy Culture'' reached a peak of number 3. A music video for "Tongues of Kali" was directed by
David Mackenzie and filmed at
The Arches, Glasgow, in 1998. The music video was for many years unavailable, until The Martyn Bennett Trust uncovered the video and re-released it in January 2018 for the album's 20th anniversary.
Although Bennett played all the instruments on ''Bothy Culture'' himself, he formed the band Cuillin when touring in promotion of the album, helping make the music sound "more organic" and helping to inject "even more energy" into his performances.
In addition to Bennett, the band contained Deirdre Morrison (violin, vocals), Rory Pierce (Irish pipes, percussion and flutes) and Bennett's wife Kirsten (samples, backline and keys).
The tour began in late 1997 at King Tut's Wah Wah Hut, Glasgow, and continued throughout 1998 in Europe, in which the group played their "heady mix of Scottish trad, club grooves and world beats."
Notable performances on the tour included a stint at
T in the Park
T in the Park festival was a major Scottish music festival that was held annually from 1994 to 2016. It was named after its main sponsor, Tennents. The event was held at Strathclyde Park, Lanarkshire, until 1996. It then moved to the disused B ...
,
and, after an official invitation from the
Scotland national football team
The Scotland national football team gd, Sgioba Ball-coise Nàiseanta na h-Alba sco, Scotland National Fitbaa Team represents Scotland in men's international football and is controlled by the Scottish Football Association. It competes in the thr ...
, a performance at the
Buddha Bar in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
ahead of the opening
1998 World Cup match between Scotland and Brazil, where
Ewan McGregor
Ewan Gordon McGregor ( ; born 31 March 1971) is a Scottish actor. His accolades include a Golden Globe Award, a Primetime Emmy Award, and the BAFTA Britannia Humanitarian Award. In 2013, he was appointed Officer of the Order of the British ...
,
Sean Connery and
Ally McCoist
Alistair Murdoch McCoist, (; born 24 September 1962) is a Scottish former footballer who has since worked as a manager and TV pundit.
McCoist began his playing career with Scottish club St Johnstone before moving to English side Sunderland in ...
joined the band on stage to dance.
''Bothy Culture'' received positive critical reviews. Dave Sleger of
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
named it an "Album Pick", calling the album's mix of Punjabi, Scandinavian, Irish and Turkish cultures with rave, techno and hip-hop a "assiduous hybrid," and concluding: "It's loud, it's unrelenting and it's insurgent."
Paul Verna of ''
Billboard'' wrote that Bennett used his "native folk styles" as a "launching pad for a tastily idiosyncratic, ultramodern world music blend that ranks with the best of the progressives like
Deep Forest
Deep Forest is a French musical group originally consisting of two French musicians, Michel Sanchez and Éric Mouquet. They compose a style of world music, sometimes called ethnic electronica, mixing ethnic with electronic sounds and dance b ...
or
Wolfstone
Wolfstone are a Scottish musical group founded in 1989, who play Celtic rock. Their repertoire consists of both original songs and traditional folk pieces. They have released seven studio albums, the latest, '' Terra Firma'', in 2007. The band ...
," and called the album a "consistently entertaining set."
Scott Frampton of ''
CMJ New Music Monthly
CMJ Holdings Corp. is a music events and online media company, originally founded in 1978, which ran a website, hosted an annual festival in New York City, and published two magazines, ''CMJ New Music Monthly'' and ''CMJ New Music Report''. Th ...
'' felt that "''Bothy Cultures filtering of traditional Highland sounds through urban modernity
smore than equal to the sum of its parts."
Keith Witham of ''The Living Tradition'' wrote that Bennett was a rare a musician "who doesn't have to hide behind electronic gadgetry to cover a lack of technical proficiency. As a classically trained musician he really is a master of his chosen instruments."
Colin Irwin of ''
The Independent
''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publish ...
'' reflected that ''Bothy Culture'' won Bennett many friends and marked him out as "a leading figure in the evolution of Scottish music," calling the album a "storming mix of Gaelic tradition, raw emotion and glorious, full-blooded dance beats."
The album has been called "pioneering" by ''
The Guardian
''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'',
and "groundbreaking" by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
''.
nomination.
'' and called it "hugely impressive album that encompassed Bennett's multicultural approach to modern music."
wrote in 2018 that "''Bothy Culture'' still sounds as fresh and exciting as it did on the day of its release."
To celebrate the 20th anniversary of ''Bothy Culture'', and the 25th anniversary of the
festival, arranger and conductor Greg Lawson's GRIT Orchestra, named after Bennett's final album ''
as part of the festival on 27 January 2018.
The shows were billed as a "music-vision-dance-bike spectacular," and feature Lawson's rearrangements of the tracks from the album, as well as visual spectacles, including internationally famous Scottish stunt cyclist
, whose appearance was inspired by the film ''The Ridge'' (2014), in which MacAskill performed a stunt to the soundtrack of Bennett's "Blackbird".
The show was Lawson and the GRIT Orchestra's second tribute to a Bennett album, following their Celtic Connections tribute to his final album ''Grit'' in 2015,
although the orchestra was even bigger for ''Bothy Culture and Beyond'', adding a backline of Scottish fiddlers including
.
and when asked why he chose to perform ''Bothy Culture'', he said:
The bulk of the music was the result of two separate string sections, with numerous Scottish fiddlers leading the traditional melodies in one string section while accompanying soundscapes were provided by classical violins, double bass and cellos in the other. The voice of "Aye?" was provided by Innes Watson of the
.
read Sorley MacLean's English translation of "Hallaig," while in a break from the album, Fiano Hunter and the Glasgow Chapel Choir recreated the ''Grit'' song "Blackbird", accompanied by Danny MacAskill's stunt cycle work.
"Shputnik in Glenshiel" was accompanied by whistle from Fraser Fifeld, while “Ud the Doudouk” featured punches of brass, Innes’ spirited chants and a "perfectly-timed finish." Meanwhile, the “impossibly whacky” intro for "Joik" was translated to strings, brass and percussion, unifying the folk and classical string sections.
"Waltz for Hector" was heralded in by drum beats and soft whistles and featured a percussion section from James MacKintosh capturing the song's complex beats.
...